Chapter 5
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Translator: 8uhl
Chapter: 5
Chapter Title: Mana Training (2)
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Goblin Extermination (0/10). However, you must defeat them using only magic.
Thwack!
I slammed my fist into the charging goblin.
It tumbled backward.
"Kik... Kieek!! That hurts!! Ah, it hurts... it doesn't hurt...?!!!"
"?"
I'd hit it with everything I had, but the goblin sprang right back up and charged again.
Physical attack detected. Damage has been nullified.
"Not even with my bare hands?"
You must defeat the target using only magic.
Only magic, huh.
My current mana was at 15.
That meant I could cast the 1-circle spell Fire seven times.
"...This is bad. Like, really bad."
I swallowed hard.
They all charged at me at once.
I twisted my body to the left to dodge.
But my reaction speed was sluggish.
Physical abilities have been downgraded.
"What the?!"
Stab!
A goblin's dagger plunged straight into my left side.
Bright red blood sprayed out.
"Aaaagh!"
An immense pain surged through me.
It felt like someone was jamming a red-hot iron club into my side.
When that black-masked figure had sliced my throat, I'd died too quickly to feel any pain.
So this hurt even more by comparison.
"Kieek! Got him!"
"Kieek! Kieek!"
All my physical stats except mana and magic power had been nerfed.
My whole body felt twice as heavy, like it was under double gravity.
On top of that, blood loss from the wound was making my head spin.
"Finish him! Finish him!"
"Finish him! Finish him!"
The goblins tightened their encirclement for the kill.
I looked around.
There was no gap to escape through.
I'd never used mana in my entire life. Clearing this with only mana made no sense.
And this was really the Yoon Family's beginner class?
That meant their kindergarteners and elementary school kids could take out these goblins with just mana.
"Haa... haa... What the hell am I supposed to do...? Damn it."
Thud.
I collapsed right there.
I never imagined I'd experience a second death in a place like this.
The sound of goblin footsteps approached.
Then I blacked out.
Player has died, restarting the trial.
Respawning...
??? has entered.
CHAPTER 1: Proof of Qualification.
???'s current mana: 15.
"Whoa...! Huh?"
I was alive again.
But this wasn't like my previous regression.
It felt more like waking up from a dream.
Spatial illusion.
Object illusion.
Temporal illusion.
This training hall was under an endless respawn magic.
"...This is impressive in a whole different way."
Current attempts: 1
The pain of nearing death was just as real.
But now I could train without dying for good.
Was there any other training hall like this?
Admiration came with a touch of fear.
"Alright."
Now I really had no choice.
I had to overcome this trial using only mana.
"Fire...!"
Fwoosh...!
A flame flickered to life in my hand.
But Fire wasn't an attack skill.
It was just the absolute basics, the foundation for magic skills. It couldn't deal damage.
Attack skills started at 2-circle magic.
I needed to learn Fireball.
I didn't know how to use magic.
I had no clue how to wield it.
But theoretically, I was an expert.
Condensation: gathering mana in one place.
Release: expelling mana.
Creation: shaping mana.
Magic occurred through these three steps.
'Fireball.'
The flames from Fire flickered.
At first, they went out easily in the breeze.
But gradually, they gathered toward the center.
'Just a bit more...'
I focused every sensation in my body on my right palm.
No different from molding clay into pottery. I gathered the mana.
Fwoosh... Whoosh!
A baseball-sized Fireball appeared.
"It... it worked!"
My first offensive magic in life.
2-Circle Magic Fireball acquired.
The dense mana of the Yoon Family's Mana Manual, combined with the situation, had led to acquiring a new skill.
Fireball cost the same 2 mana as Fire.
So I still had seven shots.
"Here we go."
Generating quest appropriate for stats.
First Quest.
Goblin Extermination (0/10). However, you must defeat them using only magic.
The goblins reappeared.
Exactly ten, just like before.
I slowly circled them.
'Lure them out one by one.'
The odds of all ten having the same temperament were low.
So there had to be one hothead who'd rush in first.
Sure enough, one leaped out right away.
"Kieeek!"
Perfect.
Fwoosh!
The Fireball slammed right into its solar plexus.
"Kieeek!" Fwoosh!
The goblin burst into flames and burned up.
One down.
Goblin 1/10
"Kiek!"
"Kieeek!"
Seeing their comrade roasted, the rest flew into a frenzy and charged.
Six shots left.
I used sympathy to draw out two more.
One Fireball to take them both.
I waited as long as possible for them to cluster close.
When the moment came, I cast immediately.
Fwoosh!
Calmly, I picked off the second and third with Fireballs.
Now three more incoming.
'Can't damage them, but I can throw off their balance.'
I covered the skill's cast delay with dodges.
In combat, numbers always held the advantage.
But if you used your situation wisely, you could turn it around.
Thud! Thud!!
The goblins' fists missed and punched each other instead.
But it didn't finish them.
I released my mana.
"Fireball!"
Fwoosh!
Two in a row.
To ensure the kills, I fired consecutively.
Clumped up like that, they were easy targets—no misses.
The two Fireballs incinerated the three goblins one after another.
The idiots practically hugged each other trying to put out the flames, making it effortless.
All combat must be calculated.
Three shots left.
My head throbbed.
Mana depletion side effects.
Still, my eyes never rested.
They darted up, down, left, right, scanning the goblins.
Goblin 6/10
'Three shots left. Be careful.'
Every shot counted now.
If this were real combat, spamming mana like this would be game over.
The most efficient mana management: never use skills below 30%.
But when the situation turned dire, that went out the window.
You squeezed out every last drop.
The remaining four hesitated, spooked.
I exploited that, charging straight at them.
"Keek! Kieek!"
The goblins screeched and scattered.
Prey always flees instinctively when it senses the hunter.
And one always lags behind.
"Fireball!"
Splat!
I mercilessly torched the straggler.
Like a lion herding buffalo, I pulled them in one by one to my stage.
That was the basics of the hunt.
"Kieeek!"
Goblin 7/10
'Good... this is manageable.'
There really was no training hall like this.
Tailoring a dungeon to the challenger's mana—pure benevolence.
No superpower could replicate what one family had achieved.
"Kiek!!!"
Then the remaining three charged simultaneously.
But instead of rushing straight in, they started circling to surround me.
'Using their heads a bit.'
Judging a simultaneous surround from all sides wiser, they attacked from different angles.
Still just goblins.
Fools who couldn't see two moves ahead.
Me? A veteran hunter who'd roamed battlefields for 22 years.
"Fireball."
I conjured a Fireball and spun my body.
Flames spread outward from me.
Fwoooosh!!!
The dumb goblins flung themselves into the fire like moths to a flame.
"Kieeeeek-!"
"Gaaah!"
They turned to black ash and vanished.
I'd taken out all ten with mana to spare.
Goblin 8/10
Goblin 9/10
Goblin 10/10
CHAPTER 1: Proof of Qualification cleared.
Prepare for the next round.
New Skill: Flame
"Haa... haa..."
I wiped away the cold sweat.
This was like handing a swordless boy a blade and telling him to fight.
Still, this insane training always came with commensurate rewards.
Mana +2
Magic Power +2
Normally, it'd take hours of training to gain that much.
The Yoon Family's dense ambient mana fueled my rapid growth.
"Haa... tough."
If they'd just given me a sword, I could've taken those goblins blindfolded.
But this was a mountain I had to climb eventually.
My body ached, but it felt exhilarating.
My body was growing.
And getting stronger.
Yoon Family mana aura permeates your body.
Mana recharging at high speed.
Entering CHAPTER 2.
No breather—straight into the next round.
Mana refilled thanks to the Mana Manual, but physical fatigue lingered.
Energy to move the body, mana to cast skills.
They were entirely different.
No amount of training could avoid physical exhaustion from mana depletion.
Goblin Squad Annihilation (0/1)
This time, a goblin squad.
From the blue portal emerged a goblin platoon.
Three with shields.
Four with spears.
Three with bows.
Total of ten goblins.
The difference: these moved tactically.
Fweeek—thunk!
"Urk...!"
An arrow struck my right shoulder.
Even in this generated world, it burned like fire.
'Damn. Couldn't dodge because of the penalty.'
"Heh heh heh heh."
The arrow-shooting goblin cackled slyly.
I was adept at evasion thanks to honed physical skills, but magic skills? No counter.
And this goblin had absorbed Yoon Family mana, just like me.
'Silent Arrow.'
Among the archers, the middle one looked most annoying.
A 3-star skill for archer classes: Silent Arrow.
No sound meant no dodging.
Mana fully restored.
An old memory surfaced.
Being left alone in a level 3 dungeon with just a dagger.
It was shortly after I became a hunter.
The errand dungeon turned out way harder than expected.
Then the boss monster appeared.
The expedition gave their all but got wiped with the boss.
'...To get out of the dungeon, I had to deal with the small fry myself.'
Thirty kobolds approached the incapacitated expedition.
The only unscathed one was me, the porter.
A dagger.
That was all I had.
But I fought for half a day and killed all thirty kobolds.
And I was the sole survivor of that dungeon.
...Crack!
I snapped the silent arrow in my shoulder.
Compared to then, this was child's play.
What was different?
Back then: a dagger.
Now: one skill.
No difference.
I narrowed my eyes.
"Kiiik...!"
"Gik...!"
The goblins flinched at my glare.
The shield-bearers backpedaled first.
Their defensive line crumbled, and the spearmen and archers broke formation too.
A unit stripped of will scattered like sheep.
Big and scary-looking, but frantic to flee—mere weaklings.
Goblins were sheep. My prey.
"Hunt begins."
And I was a hunter returned from hell.
"Grooo... oooh..."
I gripped the charred goblin corpse.
"Haa... haa..."
I tossed the burned goblin from my hand and slumped to the floor.
Mana +1
New Skill: Ignition
No idea how long I'd been fighting.
Luckily, as rounds progressed, my body gradually regained its original prowess.
By round 5, I had full control back.
Meaning goblin attacks couldn't touch me.
No physical damage possible, but evasion worked fine.
"...Is this the end?"
No alerts after round 5.
Yet no exit portal appeared.
It couldn't be a quest lasting months, right?
'That'd be trouble.'
As a cadet, missing even a day of class was an issue.
Felt like 8-10 hours had passed subjectively.
If it didn't end soon, I'd be late for class.
'Ugh... shoulda asked Yoon Ah-young how to get back.'
This filthy huge training ground had no portals.
I waded through piles of goblin corpses.
Planning to search everywhere for an exit.
Then, a breeze blew.
"..."
Felt like back then.
A powerful aura approached.
I looked at the rock.
"..."
"..."
A woman was there.
With maple-leaf red-brown hair.
I slowly backed away.
'...She's strong.'
I could tell at a glance.
"Wait."
"..."
Her voice was refreshingly clear.
She twirled her hair with a finger.
"Hi."
She greeted me.
Seductive double eyelids, bangs covering her forehead.
"...What's your name?"
"...What?"
"Huh?"
"What."
"Eh?"
She yelped in confusion.
I wasn't letting my guard down this time.
This woman had an aura similar to that 'black mask.'
A monster, plain and simple.
Her hand twitched.
I quickly condensed mana.
But it wasn't an attack stance.
She covered her mouth.
"No, hey. You. No way. I suspected, but... youuu..."
She pointed at me.
"You... youuu...!"
Her finger started trembling.
Then her lips parted.
"?"
No killing intent.
She shouted, hand still over her mouth.
"You're... a guyyy?!?!???"
"...And?"
Up to that point, I had no idea.
Why she had to be so shocked at seeing a man.
That marked the start of our tangled connection.
(To be continued next time)